Sunday saw a stunning reversal in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Playoff race as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Delhi Capitals by 47 runs to win their fifth successive game of the season. In the race for a top-four finish, the win did RCB a great deal of favor as it increased their total points to 12 from 13 games with a Net Run Rate of +0.387. The five-time champion Chennai Super Kings are the team that RCB is next slated to play. This match might be a virtual knockout, with the winner advancing to the playoffs and the loser eliminated.
With seven victories in 13 games, the Super Kings are now in third place in the standings. They have a +0.528 NRR. Sunrisers Hyderabad, with a game remaining, have seven victories in twelve games and 14 points overall. They have an NRR of +0.406.
Scenarios for the IPL 2024 Playoffs:
The Sunrisers Hyderabad’s next opponents in the season are the Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans. They have 14 points on the board and an excellent Net Run Rate, so a single win in either of the games might send them to the playoffs.
The Lucknow Super Giants are also very much in the running, but they will need to win both of their remaining games because their NRR of -0.769 is very low.
Both the Delhi Capitals and the Gujarat Titans are mathematically qualified for the postseason, although they can only score a combined 14 points throughout the league part of the season. It would be almost impossible for them to defeat CSK, RCB, LSG, or SRH in a top 4 match given their lower NRR.
How RCB Can Make It To The IPL 2024 Playoffs:
The best-case scenario for RCB is if SRH wins one or both of its matches to move up to third place in the standings and LSG doesn’t win any more than one. The game between CSK and RCB would then determine the final position in the IPL 2024 playoffs, with the match acting as an unreal elimination round in the playoff competition.
In that case, if RCB defeats CSK by 18 runs or more (assuming the Faf du Plessis-led team reaches 200 runs while batting first), they will have surpassed CSK’s run rate. With about 11 balls left, RCB will need to chase down a target of 201 if it is set.